Norfolk

• Cley - Blakeney Point

  Satellite View
  The NWT reserve at Cley is similar to Titchwell with a number of hides overlooking scrapes that attract if anything an even greater range of waders. Nearby habitats include heath land with nightjars and nightingales, salt marsh east and west, and the shingle bank with scrub particularly at Salthouse just east of Cley attracts recently arrived migrants and in winter snow buntings. Walking west from Cley you move onto the National Trust reserve of Blakeney point. This is a shingle spit 3½ miles long with low cover that can hold freshly arrived migrants for a day or two. At the point itself there is a colony of several thousand sandwich, common and little terns.

• Great Yarmouth - Breydon Water

  Satellite View
  Amongst the urban desert of Great Yarmouth the cemetery can hold very high densities of migrants, red-flanked bluetail and little bunting have both been recorded. Try north and south of the road. The beach particularly between the two piers regularly holds 10+ Mediterranean gulls. Breydon water is a large landlocked estuary that has 1000s of waders (lapwings, golden plovers, black tailed godwits) in winter, and attracts some rarities, but views onto the mud are always distant. Paths run all the way along either side and Berney Arms, an RSPB reserve of flooded grazing marsh, is at the south west corner.

• Hickling

  Satellite View
  This broad is surrounded by very extensive reed beds and is owned by NWT and English Nature. The access from the south is along the Weavers Way footpath. The north side is the NWT reserve. Most reed bed birds can be seen including occasionally bittern. Smew are regular in winter. Swallowtail butterflies for the bugmen.

• Holme

  Satellite View
  This NWT and NOA reserve consists of coastal dunes, scrub, a few pines, and several small scrapes with hides. For birders the main attraction is its potential for migrants e.g. bluethroats and Rüppel's warbler.

• Kelling

  Satellite View
  Kelling is located just to the east of Salthouse. The Quags is an NOA reserve and is an area of freshwater marsh and flooded pools. It is good for wildfowl and waders and also gets the occasional Bittern. The scrubby areas are good for migrants during passage. Inland, Kelling Heath is a good area for Woodlark and occasionally gets Nightjar and Nightingale.

• Lyndford Arboretum

  Satellite View
  Hawfinches can occur here in winter but they do tend to move around from year to year.

• Santon Downham

  Satellite View
  This gives access to pine plantations where woodlark and crossbill occur.

• Sheringham

  Satellite View
  The shelter on the sea front here provides probably the best sea watching in Norfolk after strong northerly or north-westerly storms in late summer or early autumn. Other sites in the UK are probably better but this is one of the only ones where the sun is always behind you. The 4 skuas, Manx, sooty and Mediterranean shearwater, 4 grebes, and both petrels are all easily possible.

• Snettisham RSPB

  Satellite View
  This RSPB reserve gives access to several pits which as well as attracting wintering wildfowl are the high tide roost site for very large numbers of knot and bar tailed godwits from the wash. Follow signs from A149 onto Beach Road, from here follow brown tourist signs into new RSPB car park. From here a path takes you alongside one of the old gravel diggings and up onto the edge of The Wash, continue south until you reach the Rotary Hide. There is a circular walk around the four hides from here. To get the most out of a visit to this reserve you should come on a big high tide. Colour coded Birdwatchers Tide Tables are produced each October by the RSPB, these also contain information on the best conditions to witness the spectacular midwinter dawn fight of tens of thousands of pink footed geese. To get a copy of these tide tables. send a SAE and two first class stamps to RSPB, 43 Lynn Road, Snettisham, PE31 7LR Disabled Access Please send A4 SAE to RSPB, 43, Lynn Road, Snettisham, Norfolk PE31 7LR. They will send a permit (valid for 3 months) and directions to drive through chalets and along the sea wall to a parking area close to first hide. Wheelchair path between first and second hide and wheelchair bays in both hides…

• Strumpshaw Fen

  Satellite View
  Another all round reserve for Broadland birds, is Strumpshaw which was once the Norfolk stronghold of Cetti's warblers, now they are throughout the broads and in a few coastal sites. Nearby Buckenham and Cantley level crossing are the places to see the bean geese in winter.

• Titchwell

  Satellite View
  The RSPB's most visited reserve the wide range of habitats within a relatively short walk of the car park make this an excellent spot to experience the magic of birding the north Norfolk coast. The scrub woodland is good for bullfinch and several species of warbler, the feeders by the visitor centre attract great spotted woodpeckers. In the summer the reedbed supports important numbers of bearded tits and marsh harriers as well as many reed and sedge warblers. The freshwater and brackish lagoons are home to about 30 pairs of avocets. They are also an excellent spot for passage and wintering waders and wildfowl. The foreshore in winter is a good place to look for twite, snow bunting and in some years shorelark. Offshore in summer terns can be watched fishing and in winter look for slavonian grebes, divers and scoter.

• Waxham - Winterton

  Satellite View
  This stretch of coast is mainly dunes with some heath at Winterton. It attracts good numbers of migrants especially passerines, and Winterton is good for migrant raptors (for the UK this means a few a day). In Winter the area has regular rough-legged buzzards. The only roads that have public access to the area are the ones that are indicated above. Tracks and paths then lead along the coast from these. The ones on the inland side of the dunes are the ones to concentrate on.

• Weeting

  Satellite View
  This small wardened NWT reserve is the place to see stone curlews, from early spring onwards.

• Wells / Holkham

  Satellite View
  The 3 miles of Corsican pines planted on the dunes, particularly at the eastern end at Wells where there is some deciduous scrub are a magnet for passerine migrants. Unfortunately this much cover provides plenty of opportunities for it to disappear, witness the red breasted nuthatch of about a decade ago which literally 1000s of birders took hours to relocate each time it disappeared. This is probably the best place to find yourself a Pallas's or yellow-browed warbler in autumn. The grazing marsh and scrapes that can be seen from the western end of the pines have recently been renovated. Winter brings pink footed and Brent geese here as to most of the rest of the coast. Also the dunes/salt marsh between the pines and the sea usually hold shore larks, snow buntings and twite.

• Welney

  WebpageSatellite View
  Like all WWT reserves this has a little of the feel of a zoo about it. They do not breed wildfowl here but the feeding in front of the main hide produces a rather unnatural spectacle. The variety and numbers of wildfowl found here in winter are spectacular, the recent canvasback being a highlight.

• Paul Burrows

  | PBurrows@freenet.co.uk

• Steve Rowland

  Additional Material | steve.rowland@rspb.org.uk

• Neil Lawton

  Scolt Head Boatshed, Harbour Way, Brancaster Staithe, PE32 8BW

  norfolkbirdrecs@gmail.com

• Number of bird species: 446

• Best Birdwatching Sites: Norfolk

  | By Neil Glenn | Buckingham Press | 2013 | Paperback | 273 pages, b/w illustrations, colour maps, tables | ISBN: 9780956987648 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• Birds New to Norfolk

  | (The Account of their Discovery and Identification) | By Keith Dye, Mick Fiszer & Peter Allard | Wren Publishing | 2009 | Hardback | 412 pages, 16pp colour plates, b/w illustrations | ISBN: 9780954254537 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• Birds in Norfolk

  | (A National and International Perspective) | By Andy Brown & James McCallum | Langford Press | 2016 | Hardback | 277 pages, colour illustrations, tables | ISBN: 9781904078319 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• Birds of the Yare Valley

  | (A site guide) | by David Bryant | Heathland Books | 2017 | 98 Pages | ISBN: 9781999741709 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• DVD Guide to Birdwatching in Norfolk

  | By Paul Doherty | Bird Images Video Guides | 2008 | DVD | Runtime: 127 min | ISBN: 5065000721107 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• North Norfolk's Wildlife

  | (Discovering Its Birds and Natural History) | By Andrew Bloomfield & Gary Smith | Red String Publishing | 2009 | Hardback | 144 pages, 154 colour photos, 1 colour map | ISBN: 9780952245919 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• Robert Gillmor's Norfolk Bird Sketches

  | By Robert Gillmor | Red Hare Publishing | 2014 | Paperback | 64 pages, 2 colour photos, 100+ colour & b/w illustrations | ISBN: 9781910001035 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• The Birds of Norfolk

  | By Moss Taylor, Michael Seago, Peter Allard & Don Dorling | Christopher Helm | 2007 | Hardback | 552 pages, B/w illus, figs, tabs, col photos | ISBN: 9780713687330 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• The Norfolk Bird Atlas: Summer and Winter Distributions 1999-2007

  | By Moss Taylor & John H Marchant | British Trust for Ornithology | 2011 | Hardback | 528 pages, Colour photos, distribution maps, tables | ISBN: 9781906204822 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• The Norfolk Cranes' Story

  | By John Buxton, Chris Durdin & Nick Upton | Wren Publishing | 2011 | Hardback | 133 pages, 65 colour & 6 b/w photos, 3 colour illustrations | ISBN: 9780954254551 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• The North Norfolk Coast

  | (A New Birder's Guide) | By Ken Lawson | WildSounds | 2010 | DVD | Runtime: 114 min, aspect ratio: 16:9 | ISBN: 9781898665236 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• Where to Watch Birds in East Anglia

  | By Peter & Margaret Clarke | Christopher Helm | 2002 | Paperback | 270 pages, B/w illustrations, maps | ISBN: 9780713658644 Buy this book from NHBS.com

• Holme Bird Observatory

  Observatory WebsiteSatellite View
  Holme Bird Observatory ("The Obs") is the home of the Norfolk Ornithologists’ Association (NOA)

• North West Norfolk Stonechats

  Observatory WebsiteSatellite View
  A colour ringing project for Stonechats on Dersingham Bog - In 2012 the Natural England team at Dersingham Bog teamed up with the North Norfolk Ringing Group, the British Trust for Ornithology and site volunteers to begin ongoing monitoring of the nests of key heathland breeding species, including Stonechats.

• BTO - British Trust for Ornithology

  Website
  Looking out for birds? Share your interest in birds with others by being part of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). Volunteer surveyors, members and staff work in partnership to provide unbiased information about birds and their habitats. Join or volunteer today and make birds count.

• Broads Authority

  Website
  The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads is a unique area of water, grazing marshes, fen and woodland, and home to some of the rarest plants and creatures in the UK. It is Britain`s largest protected wetland, having similar status to a national park. The Broads Authority was set up in 1989 to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the Broads, promote the enjoyment of the Broads and protect the interests of navigation.

• Cley Bird Club

  Website
  The Cley Bird Club (CBC) exists to bring together everybody who has an interest in the Birds of the Cley area in North Norfolk, UK.

• Great Yarmouth Bird Club

  Website
  THE GREAT YARMOUTH BIRD CLUB was formed in May 1989 by Peter Allard, Keith Dye and others. Its origins were born out of the Great Yarmouth RSPB members' group, and initially meetings were at secretary Peter Allard`s home for nearly a year. As membership grew, meetings were then held at various function rooms within Yarmouth public houses, and since 1995, the Rumbold Arms on Southtown Road has been its home.

• Nar Valley Ornithological Society

  Mailing Group
  Welcome to the Home Page of the Nar Valley Ornithological Society. Founded in 1976, the Nar Valley Ornithological Society (NarVOS) has been, and still is at the fore of bird watching and ornithological studies in mid Norfolk. We hope that you will find our site informative, and will want to return over and over again…

• Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists Society

  Website
  Welcome to Norfolk’s oldest natural history organisation – dedicated to conserving the county’s wildlife since 1869. Why not join us? You don’t need to be an expert. We have plenty of members who are only too willing to share their knowledge and expertise and help you learn more about the natural world.

• Norfolk Birds Records Committee

  Website
  The role of the Norfolk Records Committee is to present an accurate and reliable account of present day bird records in the county of Norfolk. These records will ultimately become part of the county’s historical archive and it is therefore essential that before sightings of many of the rarer species can be added to this archive, a formal description is required.

• Norfolk Coast Partnership

  Website
  The Norfolk Coast was designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) in 1968. The Norfolk Coast Partnership was set up in 1992 to promote conservation and enhancement of the area's unique natural beauty; to facilitate and enhance public enjoyment, understanding and appreciation of the area's natural beauty; and to promote sustainable forms of social and economic development that in themselves conserve and enhance the area's natural beauty.

• Norfolk Ornithologists Association

  Website
  The Norfolk Ornithologists' Association (NOA) is an independent Norfolk-based charity, dedicated to the scientific study of birds. It focuses primarily on bird migration and population dynamics through bird ringing and daily monitoring, and the information collected acts as an indicator of environmental health locally, nationally and internationally. All our work is funded by membership subscriptions, donations and permit sales.

• Norfolk Wildlife Trust

  Website
  Norfolk Wildlife Trust is the oldest Wildlife Trust in the country. The purchase of 400 acres of marsh at Cley on the north Norfolk coast in 1926 to be held ‘in perpetuity as a bird breeding sanctuary’ provided a blueprint for nature conservation which has now been replicated across the UK.

• North East Norfolk Bird Club

  Website
  NENBC is a recently created club, covering this beautiful and bird-rich corner of the county - serving the birding communities of Melton, Briston, Holt, Sheringham, Cromer, North Walsham and Aylsham.

• RSPB Norwich Local Group

  Website
  We aim to provide an interesting range of indoor and outdoor meetings on a monthly basis, and to promote the work and activities of the RSPB. We offer RSPB Sales goods and other goods, plus can collections to raise funds to support our local reserves. We also produce a quarterly newsletter - please refer to our local website for full details.

• Waveney Bird Club

  Website
  The friendly club for birdwatchers in Norfolk & Suffolk

• Wensum Valley Birdwatching Society

  Website
  WVBS is an active and friendly Norfolk birdwatching society with approximately 100 members. Our indoor meetings are held on the Third Thursday of each month at 7.30p.m, and feature a guest speaker.

Abbreviations Key

• Accessible Reserves

  WebpageSatellite View
  Each of the following links lead to a BFA assessment of a Norfolk reserve. ALL types of mobility problem are assumed so there are details of path surfaces, gradients and distances as well as benches and hide details etc., etc.

• H&OT Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve

  WebsiteSatellite View
  Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve is a peaceful place, with a rich variety of wildlife in its woodland, fen and reed bed habitats. Located in the beautiful Wensum Valley, the reserve is nationally and internationally recognised as important for its wildlife.

• NNR Holkham National Nature Reserve

  WebsiteSatellite View
  Holkham National Nature Reserve stretches from Burnham Norton to Blakeney and covers about 3,706 hectares. It is possible to explore most of the area by following footpaths from the main car parks. The core section of the reserve, from Wells to Holkham Bay, is crisscrossed by paths allowing access through the pine woodland.

• NNR Winterton Dunes

  InformationSatellite View
  Main habitats: coastal sand dunes, dune heath and slacks, freshwater pools - These spectacular acidic dunes and heaths are internationally important for the rare groups of plants and animals which they support, in a habitat more common in northern Europe than England. Little terns and ringed plover nest in shallow scrapes on the sandy beach, nocturnal nightjars which use the heath to feed and breed can be heard ‘churring’ on warm summer evenings, and skylarks and stonechats are often seen or heard.

• NWT Cley Marshes

  WebpageSatellite View
  NWT Cley Marshes is Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s oldest and best known nature reserve. It was purchased in 1926 to be held 'in perpetuity as a bird breeding sanctuary'. It provided a blue print for nature conservation which has now been replicated across the UK. The water levels in the pools and reedbeds are regulated to ensure they are ideal for the resident birds, and reed is harvested every year to keep the reedbeds in good condition.

• NWT Hickling Broad

  WebpageSatellite View
  Hickling Broad is located 23 kilometres north east of Norwich. It is part of the Upper Thurne Broads and Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which includes Horsey Mere and Martham Broad. The international importance of this area has been recognised in its designation as a Broads Ramsar site.

• NWT Nature Reserves

  WebsiteSatellite View
  Norfolk has many reserves. Private individuals, including the Queen, at Sandringham, own some. Norfolk Wildlife Trust, the National Trust and English Nature manage the most. Many are concerned mainly with birds.

• NWT Thorpe Marshes

  WebpageSatellite View
  Bordering the River Yare, Thorpe Marshes is one of the Trust’s more urban sites, located on the eastern fringe of Norwich. The site is a wonderful mixture of habitats: flower-rich marshes criss-crossed with dykes that are home to many dragonfly and damselfly species, including the rare Norfolk hawker, and the even larger emperor dragonfly. Several species of common butterfly can also be encountered on a good day.

• NWT Weeting Heath

  WebpageSatellite View
  NWT Weeting Heath is the best site in the country to watch the rare and unusual stone curlew. The species requires open, stony ground with short vegetation to breed, making the close-cropped turf of Weeting an ideal site. This special Breckland habitat has to be specially managed to keep it so low – as well as sheep, NWT employs eager volunteers: rabbits

• Norfolk's National Nature Reserves

  WebpageSatellite View
  Natural England's website with listings of reserves, many managed by NWT

• Pensthorpe Natural Park

  WebsiteSatellite View
  The Pensthorpe of today was created by a visionary conservationist, Bill Makins, who designed a truly sustainable gravel extraction process that formed one of the most biodiverse nature reserves in England. The then 200-acre reserve and its associated habitats were created as an integral part of this huge undertaking, which saw over one million tonnes of gravel extracted.

• RSPB Berney Marshes & Breydon Water

  WebpageSatellite View
  Experience the spectacle of the tens of thousands of wintering ducks, geese and swans that visit the estuary and surrounding grazing marshes. In spring, the marshes are filled with the atmospheric calls of lapwings and redshanks, all breeding on one of the UK's largest expanses of wet grassland. Access is along public footpaths. To book winter boat trips call 01603 715191.

• RSPB Buckenham Marshes

  WebpageSatellite View
  Buckenham Marshes is a traditionally managed grazing marsh with large numbers of breeding wading birds, and ducks and geese in winter. The reserve also often boasts the only regular winter flock of bean geese in England (November to February), together with white-fronted geese and up to 10,000 wigeons. Read more at http://ww2.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/find-a-reserve/reserves-a-z/reserves-by-name/b/buckenham/about.aspx#U0Ep8u0i7LdOj8L4.99

• RSPB Snettisham

  WebpageSatellite View
  This is the place to witness two of the UK's great wildlife spectacles. On big tides, as water covers the vast mudflats of The Wash, tens of thousands of wading birds are pushed off their feeding grounds and onto the roost banks and islands in front of the RSPB hides.

• RSPB Strumpshaw Fen

  WebpageSatellite View
  This reserve has the full range of broadland habitats and wildlife. Walk round the reedbeds, woodlands and orchid-rich meadows and you could chance upon marsh harriers, bitterns and kingfishers. Come in spring and summer when the meadows bloom with flowers, and see an array of dragonflies and butterflies, including the spectacular swallowtail. Read more at http://ww2.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/find-a-reserve/reserves-a-z/reserves-by-name/s/strumpshawfen/about.aspx#74WFQVScxzXtJUBL.99

• RSPB Surlingham Church Marsh

  WebpageSatellite View
  From Norwich, take the A146 towards Lowestoft. After crossing the A47, just before the road becomes a single carriageway, take the road to the left signposted Bramerton, Surlingham and Rockland. Continue through Kirby Bedon, and at the Bramerton triangle take a left to Surlingham. If you end up in Bramerton, you have gone too far. Upon entering Surlingham, the reserve is off of Church Road, a left hand turn just as you begin seeing houses and paddocks (before the main part of the village). Park outside the church, but be aware of Church traffic on a Sunday and gun club users on a Sunday or Thursday.

• RSPB Titchwell Marsh

  WebpageSatellite View
  This popular reserve on the north Norfolk coast has something for everyone. A walk from the visitor centre down to the sandy beach takes you past reedbeds and shallow lagoons, which are often full of birds. You can sit on benches or watch from spacious, wheelchair-accessible hides. Read more at http://ww2.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/find-a-reserve/reserves-a-z/reserves-by-name/t/titchwellmarsh/about.aspx#v2ue5lOm84c3pe8C.99

• WWT Reserve Welney

  WebpageSatellite View
  In winter, enjoy the magic of hundreds of Whooper and Bewick's Swans accompanied by flocks of thousands of ducks. During the day, carpets of Wigeon graze this precious wetland, while flocks of Pintail, Teal, Gadwall and Shoveler dabble in the ponds and lagoons.

• NarVOS

  Sightings
  NarVOS birdnews mailing list is a free service run by the Nar Valley Ornithological Society webmaster and is for use by anybody with an interest in birding in the Nar Valley region of Norfolk. If you are not familiar with mailing lists, the NarVOS birdnews list works in the following way. You send an email to the list and everybody else, including yourself, is automatically sent a copy. Likewise if you reply to a posting on the list, by clicking the reply button in your email package, the reply will be automatically sent to everybody on the list.

• Norfolk Bird News & Megas

  Sightings
  Sightings on Penny's excellent BLOG

• NorfolkBirds

  Sightings
  Sightings and bird news

• Norfolkbirdnews

  Twitter Group
  Mailing List – Discussion Group - Sightings

• FEATURED

  Birding Ecotours

  Tour Operator
  As part of our Covid-19 day tour policy we will meet you at the various birding sites, rather than travel together in the same vehicle. Norfolk is regarded as one of the premier birdwatching locations in the United Kingdom (UK). Its variety of habitats and high number of species make it a must-visit for birders from other parts of the UK and abroad, find out why below.

• Bird ID Company

  Tour Operator
  Our daily tours are all based along the beautiful and unspoilt North Norfolk coast, which has some of the best bird watching in Britain. Many of the sites are well known for these beauty and birds, particularly our three most popular tours, Cley, Titchwell and Holme.

• Breydon Water Cruises - Waveney Stardust

  Tour Operator
  Waveney Stardust, a modern, comfortable, centrally heated cruiser with wheelchair access and full disabled toilet facility

• Oriole Birding

  Tour Operator
  A UK-based company specialising in bird watching tours of Norfolk and Wales, and a wide range of other UK destinations, a comprehensive programme of tours worldwide. Neil Donaghy and Ashley Saunders have over nineteen years experience between them, running their own companies Celtic Bird Tours and Oriole Adventures, before merging the two to create this new venture which offers complete bird tour packages. Value for money, genuinely small groups and great birds.

• Swallow Birding

  Tour Operator
  Swallow Birding is a Birdwatching and Wildlife holiday company based near The Saltmarsh Coast in East Anglia. Established in 2006 SWALLOW BIRDING is a joint venture between Annette Adams and Steve Grimwade who over the last 10 years have shared their love of wildlife with many people on tours and day trips.

Click on WAND to see Fatbirder’s Trip Report Repository…

• 2013 [04 April] - Pat & Judy Hayes - North Norfolk

  Report
  Noting that the long range weather forecast was predicting a dry warm week for the south east we decided to take advantage and have a few days away. We obtained 4 days B&B at The Old Forge at Thursford which was situated approximately an equal distance between Wells-next-the-Sea and Fakenham on the A148…

• 2014 [11 November] - David & Amanda Mason - Norfolk & Suffolk

  Report
  No birding year would be complete without a few days in East Anglia. Although the main migration period was over we knew there would still be some stragglers and we were anticipating finding lots of newly arrived winter visitors to the UK’s shores...

• 2016 [01 January] - Oriole Birding

  PDF Report
  The first day of our Norfolk five day tour began with a beautiful winters day and some really great birds! We planned to spend the whole morning in the vicinity of Burnham Overy Staithe, a superb year round destination that perhaps really comes into its own at this time of year with marshes thronged with wildfowl, waders and raptors

• 2016 [02 February] - Oriole Birding

  PDF Report
  With so many good birds around in Norfolk at the moment, it was almost hard to know where to start, but we opted for Blakeney Freshmarsh as several members of the group were keen to try and catch up with Lapland Bunting.

• 2017 [02 February] - David Karr - Winter Migrants

  PDF Report
  Winter Migrants at Slimbridge, Gloucestershire and North Norfolk - I took advantage of a stop-over flight from Amman to New York to touch down at London for a weekend birding from 17-19 February. My goal was to find wintering migratory species that had thus far eluded me in Europe (I being from Australia). I was also conscious that with the milder weather, the weekend might be one of the last for the season before the migrants departed north again.

• 2017 [03 March] - Christopher Hall

  Report
  ...Arriving at Welney in pouring rain, we spend a fruitful lunchtime accumulating a list of 30 species from the café windows, including Little Egret, Pintail, Ruff, Snipe, Black-tailed Godwit, Avocet, Oystercatcher, loads of Wigeon and Lapwings and several Reed Buntings on the feeders, as well as a group of six Roe Deer. Once the rain stops we cross the Hundred Foot Drain to the hides overlooking the Hundred Foot Washes, where we add birds like Whooper Swan, Egyptian Goose, Goldeneye, Stock Dove and Skylark, making an impressive list for a travelling day of 49 species seen...

• 2019 [05 May] - Toby Collett

  PDF Report
  ...A distant Hobby was the first of eight we saw that day and we bumped into several groups taking part in the BTO Young Birders camp who told us about a very showy Bittern. With the hide full we had to scan from the boardwalk but with a bit of patience and some VERY specific directions, talking about individual reeds, the group got onto the bird. It was only a stone’s throw away, but the camouflage was amazing...

Click on WAND to see Fatbirder’s Trip Report Repository…

• Andover House - Great Yarmouth

  Website
  A stone's throw from the beach, Andover House is an upmarket hotel exclusively for adults with access to 4 miles of tidal foreshore and the salt marshes superb for bird-life and bird-watching

• Arch House - Wells-next-the-Sea

  Accommodation
  Arch House

• Beachscape Contemporary Holiday Home - Bacton

  Accommodation
  Beachscape is on the North Norfolk coast, based in a peaceful holiday park, in a small village called Bacton with views overlooking the sea. There is direct access to the beach just yards away and miles of coastline on your doorstep to walk. The park is pet friendly with 13 acres of grassland

• Black Horse Cottage - Hickling

  Accommodation
  Black Horse Cottage is a classic ''chocolate box'' thatched cottage surrounded by 2

• Burlington Hotel, The

  Accommodation
  Overlooking the sea across Great Yarmouth`s famous Golden Sands, the Burlington and Palm Court Hotels are together in providing a friendly, warm welcome in luxurious, spacious surroundings.

• Burnham Deepdale Backpackers Hostel

  Accommodation
  Escape the beaten track and the smog of the big city to this wonderfully chilled out backpackers hostel in the heart of Burnham Deepdale. This beautiful village is by the sea in an

• Cobblers Guest House

  Accommodation
  The Cobblers Guest House is set in a quiet situation, close to the harbour of the picturesque and historic town of Wells-next-the-Sea. The Cobblers stands in its own secluded and walled garden, where guests can enjoy peace and tranquillity

• Fieldview Guest House - East Barsham

  Accommodation
  West Barsham Road, East Barsham, North Norfolk, NR21 0AR, UK Tel./fax +44 (01328) 820083 Fieldview is the place for you if you like comfortable accommodation, with a friendly welcome in quiet location off the beaten track, we are open all year around except for the Christmas holidays

• Gables B&B

  Accommodation
  Lovely refurbished Edwardian house with beautiful bedrooms. Superb breakfasts with choice of menu and delicious evening meals available with prior booking. Glorious sea views with magnificent sunsets over the sea. Hunstanton is the only east coast resort which faces west! Ideal location for a recreational, sporting or relaxing break. Owner - Mrs Barbara Bamfield - bbatthegables@aol.com

• Heacham Manor

  Website
  We welcome all ‘birders’ whether they be ‘twitchers’, in their camouflage jackets loaded with the latest gear in pursuit of rarities, or more relaxed birdwatchers in walking boots and muted colours who are happy to see any of Norfolk’s special and everyday birds. We are perfectly placed for the spectacle of tens of thousands of waders at Snettisham or the variety of herons that roost at Holme. Along Norfolk’s north coast there is plenty to see any time of the year. We hope you chose our Norfolk hotel near to these great birdwatching reserves as your holiday base...

• Lavender Cottages

  Accommodation
  Sea Lavender Cottage Burnham Market, Burnham Market & surrounding villages

• Le Strange Arms Hotel - Old Hunstanton

  Accommodation
  Situated in the village of Old Hunstanton, overlooking the sea. Standing on the east coast of England it faces west across the Wash. The hotel grounds run down to one of the best sandy beaches in an area of many lovely beaches.

• Moonriver - Martham, Norfolk Broads

  Accommodation
  Free fishing from garden, sleeps 4/6, fully refurbished, double shower, flush toilet, TV, video, car parking, sand dune beach on horizon, bird watching, sailing, walking, water sports, rural setting in National Park.

• Oaktree Cottage - Briston

  Accommodation
  Oaktree Cottage is a 200-year-old brick and flint cottage providing quality self-catering holiday accommodation in the heart of the North Norfolk countryside, with easy access to coastal villages, beaches, and wildlife

• Pheasant Hotel - Kelling Nr Holt

  Accommodation
  The Pheasant Hotel is situated in 2 acres of landscaped gardens, set back off the main coast road between the harbour village of Blakeney and the seaside town of Sheringham…

• Rose & Crown

  Accommodation
  We are a splendid old pub with 11 bedrooms, serving excellent food and beer, and are just down the road from the RSPB reserve at Snettisham. We frequently have bird watchers to stay and the RSPB bring groups to breakfast with us after early morning bird watching sessions.

• Shelbrooke Hotel - Hunstanton

  Accommodation
  Handily placed for the North Coast reserves

• The King William IV - Sedgeford

  Accommodation
  Welcome to The King William IV Country Inn & Restaurant. Tucked away in the village of Sedgeford amid rolling countryside and conveniently close to the Peddars Way and Norfolk's beautiful coastline, lies this friendly family run traditional Country Inn

• Norfolk Birders

  Website
  We are two avid birders whose interests in birding started from an early age. For my part I can remember that at the age of 7 I had a Waxwing feeding on the Cotoneaster and rushing for the Observer book of Birds in the hope of identifying it, only to find the illustration was on a black and white plate

• Norfolk Wildlife Centre & Country Park

  Website
  Tour the 30 acre landscaped site and look out for Wallabies, European Lynx, Barbary Apes, Otters, Iguanas, Snakes, Tortoises and birds of all sizes and colours and many more Wild Animals; all in near natural conditions.

• Norwich Peregrines

  Website
  This website is dedicated to the magnificent Peregrine Falcons that call Norwich Cathedral their home

• The Birds of Norfolk

  Website
  Whether its booming bitterns or sky-dancing marsh harriers over the reedbeds of the north coast, wildfowl and waders wheeling over the immense mudflats of The Wash or the haunting calls of roosting cranes in the Broads, Norfolk can deliver a truly memorable wildlife experience all year round. The county boasts a list of over 420 species, including some very rare resident species, breeding and winter visitors, passage migrants and many vagrants. It is one of the few counties in Britain where it is possible to see in excess of 100 bird species on any given day without too much effort. So it

• The Norfolk Cranes' Story

  Website
  This new book - published in July 2011 - tells the story of how cranes bred at Horsey in Norfolk, and how they were protected and studied there

• Visit Norfolk

  Article
  Norfolk may well be the birdwatching capital of Britain. It certainly has Premier League status nature reserves - just the names of Titchwell, Cley, Holkham, Blakeney, Snettisham and Welney make birdwatchers weak at the knees. There's plenty to see whatever the time of year.

• Alan & Brenda Fossey - Birding Paradigms

  BLOG
  BLOG & Photos from a Kent & a Norfolk birder….

• Barry Madden - Wingsearch Birding BLOG

  BLOG
  I live in Norfolk, UK; I've always lived here and will undoubtedly do so until this ageing body of mine decides it's had enough. Nature is my passion and has been since a very young age. I enjoy writing as well, so what better way than to marry the two together in the form of a wildlife blog. hope you like it.

• Chris Porter - Norfolk Bird Blog

  BLOG
  Bird and wildlife sightings from around Norfolk, mostly on the northern coast.

• David Bryant - Birds of the Heath

  BLOG
  What’s going on around the Yare valley.

• Gary White - Mainly Norfolk Birding

  BLOG
  Part diary and travel log, partly photo record gallery…

• Graham Etherington - Graham's Birding Blog

  BLOG
  Not updated since 2015

• Hethersett Birdlife

  BLOG
  Hethersett Birdlife is a page dedicated to collation of Bird sightings and observations in and around the Hethersett area of Norfolk. It is intended to provide links to other sites that may interest anyone keen on the natural world...

• James Emerson - Birds and Beer

  BLOG
  I am a Norwich-based naturalist, with a particular interest in birds, larger insects and fungi. I can frequently be found at my local patch, Whitlingham C.P.

• Jim Swalwell - Lost Geordie Birding

  BLOG
  Blog of birder based in Norfolk…

• Jim's Birding Blog

  BLOG

• Kevin Du Rose - Du Rose's Digest

  BLOG
  Last updated 2013 - but some fantastic photos

• Mike Lawrence - Back In Birdland

  BLOG
  A diary of my wildlife encounters. By Mike Lawrence, Trimingham, Norfolk

• Neil Lawton - A Norfolk Birder in Thailand

  BLOG
  I am a Norfolk birder who now spends the winter months living and birding in Thailand. The summer months are spent working and living on Scolt Head Island, Norfolk, England as permanent summer warden for Natural England.

• Norfolk'n Birds

  BLOG
  Last updated 2012 - Amusing musings from a patch…

• Paul Eeele - Mr Eeles's Birding Blog

  BLOG
  A Somerset birder in exile in North Norfolk since 2002. Now an active ringer, moth trapper and seawatching geek. Given up twitching (almost) and concentrate on my local patch around Syderstone village.

• Penny Clarke - Penny's Hot Birding & Life!

  BLOG
  Birder & amateur photographer who loves to escape into the wilds of Norfolk or anywhere else the fancy takes me! I have been birding since I was born…

• Richard Thewlis - Sketches from the Field

  BLOG
  Not updated since 2016 - Norfolk, United Kingdom - This is a blog of my impressions of nature, especially birds, which I started in 2011. I like to record my observations in the form of sketches, and paintings too, if I have time...

• Sean Locke - The Autistic Naturalist

  BLOG
  Welcome to my blog. My name is Sean Locke from Norwich and I am autistic. But this does not stop my passion for nature and wildlife. I am a volunteer for RSPB Strumpshaw Fen and I also help out at Mousehold Heath with surveys and I birdwatch whenever I can. Since 2011, i have been writing a wildlife diary filled with my adventures, drawings and photos. Now i have decided to go online to share with you all.

• Shakys Birding Blog

  BLOG
  My name is Ricky but my nickname is 'Shaky', hence the name of the blog.Im a keen bird watcher who has been birding since end of 2009. I live in Norwich since moving here about 6 years ago from good old Essex! .My local patch is Thorpe/Station Marshes in Norwich.Also i like to visit Whitlingham,Strumpshaw Fen & Buckenham Marshes.I am a full time Window Cleaner so have plenty of time to get the binoculars out when ever possible(although it does seem to stop me working alot!) I hope to put plenty of info of where i go & what i see on my adventures out. Happy Birding!

• The Occasional Birder

  BLOG
  Last updated 2015 - Bird reports and info from my current patch in Norfolk and my trips around the UK and sometimes further afield. And sometimes other interesting wildlife as well…

• Artist - James McCallum

  Gallery
  James McCallum is a wildlife artist living and working in North Norfolk. He is best known for his watercolour paintings and sketches of natural history, particularly birds, made outdoors from life at the time of watching

• Artist - Keith Nash

  Gallery
  Whilst born in the South of England, Keith Nash’s career in environmental engineering brought him and his wife to Norfolk in 1975, where they settled in the village of Little Dunham near Swaffham. The big skies and changing colours and light of the seasons soon led to a fascination with the Norfolk landscape and coastal marshes, which are famous for their wildfowl sanctuaries…

• Photographer - David Whistlecraft

  Gallery
  Wildlife photography, please view the gallery page…

• Photographer - Kevin Elsby - Wildlife on the Web

  Gallery
  A site dedicated to showing images of nature from around the world. Birds, Mammals, Insects, Plants are all covered..

• Photographer - Steve Gantlett - Cley Birds

  Gallery
  Welcome to this photo gallery site for Cley, Norfolk and beyond…

• Sculptor - Richard T Roberts

  Gallery
  Brilliant styalised sculptures from the norfolk-based artist